It’s not too often that a person can recall exactly where they were, who they were with or what they were doing twenty years ago to the day — but as for April 9th, 1994, I remember. Half a year earlier on August 22nd, 1993 (the night of my 20th birthday) I moved to Weatherford, Oklahoma and moved in with Susan and another one of her friends. I had spent the two years following high school commuting to Redlands Community College, while Susan had spent her time 60 miles east in Weatherford attending Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU). Susan had… (read more)

There was a time, many moons ago, that Susan would do just about anything to get my attention. One time, back when we were living together in our mobile home, Susan decided she would try some “acrobatics” to get my attention. I was lying in my bed reading a book when I heard someone come running down the hallway. Back then I didn’t believe in bed frames so my bed consisted of a box springs sitting on the floor with a mattress sitting on top of that. Anyway, I was lying on my mattress reading a book when Susan came… (read more)

When it comes to a car’s gas mileage, there’s always a trade off. For a couple of years I owned a Ford Festiva that had a 10 gallon gas tank and got 35 mpg. It was cheap, small, and didn’t feel very safe. I also owned a ’79 Formula Firebird that got somewhere around 10 mpg. Which would you rather be seen driving? You can get better mileage out of a car by making it smaller and lighter and less powerful and less safe; essentially, less fun. With that, I present to you the Elio. The Elio is a three-wheeled… (read more)

Before visiting Mardi Gras World I knew very little about Mardi Gras, and as it turns out, most of what I knew was wrong. For example, I assumed that Mardi Gras was just one big parade. It’s not. There are dozens of parades, each put on by different krewes. Each krewe is responsible for coming up with a theme and decorating their own floats. Since there are a bunch of krewes, each krewe is responsible for creating a bunch of floats based on a theme. Since the theme changes each year, you can see how the creation of floats could… (read more)

Saturday was the last day of our vacation. We woke up in Tunica, Mississippi. Tunica is a casino town just a few miles south of Memphis, Tennessee — you might recall I went there with my friend Andy once. Obviously it is a much different experience with kids in tow. This time we stayed at Harrah’s, but had breakfast at the Hollywood Casino, which has a collection of movie cars and props to look at. After breakfast we walked around for a few minutes and looked at movie props from Goonies, Terminator, Titanic, and a few cars. After that, there… (read more)

Yesterday, we drove. And drove and drove and drove. We drove from Orlando, Florida all the way to Tunica, Mississippi — roughly 850 miles. Google Maps says you can make it in 12 1/2 hours but, uh, we didn’t. Closer to 14 1/2 for us yesterday. We stopped at a few tourist stops along the way, like this one that had live baby gators. They also had quite a few dead ones. We also visited this super cool McDonald’s that was covered inside and out with awesome murals. The kids have given up on eating local or original things. We… (read more)

On day six, we woke up at the same place for a second day in a row — a rarity on this trip. After eating a small breakfast in the hotel room we hopped on the resort’s tram to see the entire property. It was nice to see the whole place. An hour later we were on the road again, driving north. For lunch we stopped at a key lime roadside shop. I had some fried fish and homemade coleslaw. Afterwards we all split some key lime pie. I bought a metal lizard as a souvenir. It wasn’t until I… (read more)

As with every other day of this trip, this morning started with a trip to the pool. Here is a shot of our pool here in Duck Key, Florida. They never seem to tire of swimming. Our next stop was to “swim with the dolphins” at the Dolphin Research Center. Before we went I had half a dozen jokes prepared about how we got to beat the dolphins with hoses and stuff, but after touring the place I changed my mind. The Dolphin Rescue actually rescues hurt and abandoned dolphins and provides a nice place for people to come study… (read more)